Deborah Gibson – DiabetesDad

The iPhone……”I’ Indeed……We are Losing the Concept of ‘WE’….and Quickly!

Posted on March 21, 2015 | by tomkarlya | 4 Comments

I was out this week and I saw a young couple at a table in a restaurant. They were both speaking to each other but more than “half-an-eye” was on the hand-held phone device as they ‘spoke’ to each other.

Do you have that visual in your head?

Now ask yourself where are you on that rungs of modern technology. I have come to the conclusion that the “i” in these devices, iPhone, iTablet, etc is more than just a name…..it’s a full-blown philosophy…….and “I” am not sure that it’s a good place to be. And just because something is called an Android is no release—–the generic term has become iPhone

We can surely discuss the safety factor and STILL-TO-THIS-DAY people, all ages, are not heeding the warnings being yelled, no; SCREAMED from the mountain tops how stupid it is to ‘do anything’ of the sort while driving. “It will just be a second” becomes “It just killed me” more often than people believe…..but are now finding out. iDead.

This world of ‘i” will surely take its toll. We have become a society that has become so attached to a device that I can, with 100% certainty, inform you that we did well without for over 2000 years. Nice to have? You bet. Saved lives? Absolutely. But we cannot blind ourselves that the iPhone has internalized many, many people. The attention given has created an unseen wall where many withdraw. THAT device, as good as it COULD be, is getting the upper hand in too many lives.

It is not a wePhone for a reason. And as people continue to bury their face in a device to do whatever it is that they find more important, interesting, or entertaining than the person they are with, the faster we take another step from becoming completely isolated from others around us.

I saw a young adult using their phone and they were speaking into it; I was informed that the device was taking their voice and turning it into a text message. I asked the person why they didn’t just call and speak to the person. The answer; “…..why would I do that? I don’t want to speak with them, I want to text them.”

iThink iDevices iAre iGetting iThe iUpperhand.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Do You Have a DiabeTattoo??..Be Part of the DiabeTattoo Museum at Healthline.

Posted on March 20, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

DiabeTattoos are showing up everywhere. Body art, as popular as it has become, has feverishly infiltrated the world of diabetes. Our friends over at Healthline.com are creating a place for DiabeTattoos to be seen collectively, A DiabeTattoo Museum as it were. Take a look at their slide show at: http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/diabetes-tattoos#2 .

But wait…..they are nowhere near done yet. They want more. If you have a DiabeTatto, share it with the world and be part if this very unique collection. Just take a picture of your DiabeTattoo and send it to my friend Nicole at Healthline.com at nlascurain@healthline.com.

So if you are making a diabetes statement, presenting a diabetes fact, created a memorial, did it in honor of a child….whatever…MAKE SURE YOU ARE INCLUDED.

Here is a cool story we did at dLife about the one and only (click) Darren Brass, Mr. Miami Ink at the time we created it.

So send your DiabeTattoo to Nicole and she will include your submission for all to see. Inspire others with what you have created and share this article so others can be included in the DiabeTattoo Museum at Healthline.com.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

A Horrifying World We Now Live??……..Or……An Opportunity…….Your Call!!!!!

Posted on March 19, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

I saw the picture I have attached today and immediately became horrified. I saw it recently in New York City, it was done to mailboxes along the route of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City; the BEST Irish parade in the United States, although my dear friend Patti from Chicago would vehemently disagree, as would my friends from Boston.

The ‘locks’ are for but one reason, so people (well idiots actually) do not have the opportunity to implant explosive devices within the mailbox to detonate via a timer or cell phone causing extreme pain, suffering, and damage at an ‘opportune’ moment during the festivities of the parade. It our world today.

The mailboxes, actually, used to be physically removed before someone thought up this creative way of keeping us all safe. As I stated, when I first saw this, I was sickened that this was the society we have become…….and I kept thinking about it for an entire day. My sickening feeling started to go away as I started to look at this from a different angle. Something hugely creative was done to solve a problem. The problem was/is horrible but this resolution gave me pause to think about how ‘bad things’ have caused ideas to be created, invented, and implemented that never would have happened otherwise.

Remember the ban on stem cell development (I know this is a touchy subject for some but just listen to my point), well when scientists ‘could not’ get what they wanted along these lines, they created new research venues and avenues never thought of before, because they HAD to or the work would stop. How any people impacted with diabetes are in a field that will help others. So many writers, tech people, researchers, medical professionals and more having diabetes now in a diabetes field dealing with others who have diabetes.

Devices are created because someone said; ‘just shots’ won’t do! Research happens because someone says, “…..restoring insulin production should be possible.” Organization are, and have been, founded because someone said, “…we can do more”.

Out of the storm comes a ray of light and there are many rays of light out there. So remember, in the world we live in; you can look at a locked mailbox and think how sad the world is in which we now live, or you can see the locked mailbox and think, “Wow, someone is really smart in keeping our world a bit safer.” It’s all in the approach. And it is all up to you. Food for thought.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day…..The Top of the Morn’n to You…..YOU Deserve Better.

Posted on March 17, 2015 | by tomkarlya | 1 Comment

One of the least addressed of all complications surrounding diabetes is the mental state of the entire family involved. Whether we admit it or not, diabetes plays havoc on all of our mindset. It is up to each of us to admit it and deal with it. But we need to find the time, during the day, for just us.

Today being St. Patrick’s Day I thought it appropriate to begin as many do on St. Patrick’s Day by saying “The Top of the Morn’n to You”. Of course, as many Irish know, the response is, “..and the Rest of the Day to Yourself.” (Irish accent optional)

Many are not exactly sure where the saying came from and perhaps it’s best explained looking at unhomogenised milk. When the milk is taken from the animal, usually in the morning, the cream rises to the top at some point. This is the best tasting part and usually would be tasted for the best (or the ‘TOP’) of the morning. If one is going to wish me to have the best part of the milk, the nicest thing I can do is wish them the better part of the rest of the day since they already wished me the best part.

When do you take the best part of the day for you. YES…..YOU! I have tried, for the better part of quite a few years, to find some time during the day for just me. Whether it is a cup of coffee, or a walk, or a sit outside by our waterfall……I look for that time. I urge you to do everything in your power to find 10 minutes a day, at least.

Chances are that you do little for yourself. There is the family, the job, diabetes, diabetes, and diabetes, as well as every little detail that you take-on every day. But you do not find the time for you. “I can’t, I am too busy”, does not wash here. Everyone is busy. In fact everyone is probably too busy. If you speak to the people who seem to ‘have control’ in this diabetes world, many will tell you that the most important person involved is the one that gets the least amount of time……and that person is you.

And let’s face it, if YOU are not on top of your game……many people could pay the price. Ever see a pitcher who is throwing a no-hitter or a perfect-game in baseball? By the seventh inning the rest of the team will not even speak to them. Out of respect, they are leaving the pitcher to him/herself to ‘stay in the zone’. They find the time for themselves and the team gives it to them as well.

You could find a thousand excuses not to find time for yourself but that would be an error….as you only need one good reason. You HAVE TO STAY on top of your ‘A’ game. You cannot do that without sleep, food, and you need to add a time for just you. To get away from everything (even in just your mind) and think about what makes you happy.

What do YOU do for just you—–please share with us?

This is not a ‘Zen’ kind-of-thing (unless you choose that) or some ‘flighty’ way out-there thought process. This is the most important thing that you bring to the table regarding diabetes, and that is you. So find the time to clear away the schedule for just you. You are worth it. So on this day of corn-beef, green, parades and a day where everyone is Irish…….’The Top of the morn’n to YOU’…………………….You’ll find that you are, indeed, the cream of the crop.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Bad Day….Does NOT Make a Bad Life…….BUT…..It’s Your Call!!!!

Posted on March 16, 2015 | by tomkarlya | 3 Comments

This week represents what one could call a really horrible anniversary week. Stick with me on this, it’s not my attempt to write a really depressing article…..those who know me, know that is not my style.

On this day six years ago, my dad passed away. The day before, my aunt passed away; and because both families were going through the preparation, we each were unable to see each other at a time we needed to. Four days later, six years ago, my youngest of three would also become the second child diagnosed in our house with type 1 diabetes.

When people tell me that they had a flat tire and a cold in a week’s span, as they share their horrible week, I just smile because I remember six years ago. This week is also
St. Patrick’s Day; being half Irish, it’s usually a big day. I love the parades, the music, and the entire celebration.

Sorrow. Celebration. Surely those terms describe what is just…………life. No one has the corner on the market of sorrow; and no one has a corner on a life that is only care-free. It is life.

Life.

I believe sorrow serves as a reminder of just how special life is. We cannot control much of what happens to us, but we can surely do something with what comes our way. Take it, grow, learn, and move on. Easier said than done I know. But if we do not work toward recovering from the bad life sends us, we will never find the time to appreciate the so much that is good. And there is a lot of good.

I don’t think I am the only one who feels a sense of pride when a mom boasts about her child who; scored a goal, made the team, scored high on a test, made it into college, signed a letter of intent, got married, had a baby, and did anything that was worth the time to stop and say; THIS DAY is a good day.

So continue to look for those ‘good days’ and feel free to boast about them when appropriated and enjoyed when most needed. You cannot do anything about what life throws at you but you can do a lot about what you do with it. Hold on to the good and celebrate it…..life may not always be good but there surely is a lot of good in our life. So enjoy it when you can……………………….while it lasts. LIVE!!!!

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Friday the 13th & Diabetes Luck: Are You Waiting or Making Your Own?????

Posted on March 13, 2015 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

Black cats, broken mirrors, lucky rabbit’s foot and many other artifacts are needed on this day of Friday the 13th according to folklore. The date, to which some attribute the 13 who gathered for the last supper on the Thursday before what led to what the Catholics call ‘Good Friday’; when Jesus was crucified….so when 13 lands on a Friday; well bad luck is promised on that day. There are other ‘reasons’ out there also. The ‘professional’ name given to those who possess a real fear of ’13’ is called, triskaidekaphobia.

Not all fear Friday the 13th….in Italy, for example, it is the 17th. I imagine Friday the 13th movie series left a lot of people in Italy scratching their heads.

I have never been one to believe in luck. Never did. When one does not believe in luck, one does not believe in bad luck either. A rough patch? Sure. Good things happening? Absolutely. But I have never been a big fan on giving credit to an entity that I cannot control, nor can I prevent.

I have stated before, the harder one works; the luckier one becomes. I had a wonderful Theatre Teacher years ago; his name was Jere Admire. Jere was a wonderful actor who appeared on Broadway and was an excellent educator. He said to me once; “You have a choice, you can be one who sweeps the stage or you can be Barbara Streisand—but in between is a million other slots where you could land. It’s your choice.”

His point was that if you stayed at something long enough and worked hard enough and did WHATEVER whatever was to get there……you WOULD get there. There may be a price you pay, there may be things you may want that you would have to sacrifice but the more you work at something (and here’s the catch) and the more you work at creating other opportunities—you will create a pathway to get you where you want to be. Jere closed with; “If you find you are missing something, go back to school, class, dance class, singing lessons—whatever it takes and fill in the gaps.”

It’s sort of a hard pill to swallow but if you talk to people who work at it; they will tell you that it was ‘effort that got them there’. Long before Deborah Gibson was Debbie Gibson, there was a circle of us who were quite close to her. Deborah was always an amazing talent, but it was sending her music to radio stations and many of us calling and calling to get them to play the songs that put Deborah on the map way back when. The efforts of her family to get Deborah known was tireless. Now make no mistake about it, the woman is a fierce talent and my point is simply; she did not sit around and wait for lightning; she went out and ‘made her own luck’.

No one just has ‘all of the luck’ when it comes to the care of their child and the new norm of diabetes. No one just has ‘all of the luck’ as they manage their diabetes. No one ‘just’ becomes an expert. Anything that ‘moves forward’ does so because of the work put into it. I cannot define what ‘a lot’ of work means. That’s up to you. But any athlete will tell you that when they gave it their all, and had no more to give—–they found a way to give even more to obtain their goal.

Are you waiting for lightening to strike, or are you out there giving it your all? When it comes to diabetes and living life to the fullest; the work you put into it is the result that will come out of it with few exceptions. Where are you? Are you there, or do you need to fill in the gaps. Food for thought. Happy Friday the 13th and GOOD luck. 🙂

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.